The Carver's House

Here's a poster I recently art directed--including bloody Photoshop work. It's for Dulaang UP's upcoming play Lulu , written by Frank Wedekind . (Filipino translation by Joel Saracho) From the press release: " Lulu is a story of a person who has no qualms about the body and its sexual needs. Lulu, who is the alluring woman in the English version and the captivating transsexual in Filipino, is a being able to explore and express her desires without compromise or guilt. Adored and lusted by men, women and creatures of the world, she takes them to a dance of bodily freedom, of the mind’s liberation and of utter ecstasy. But like any other person, Lulu searches for the other that could accept and understand her seemingly deviant nature." Because of its sensitive themes, Lulu is for mature audiences only. Che Ramos will play the title role in the English version, while Tuxqs Rutaquio does likewise for the Filipino version. Direction and choreography is by Dexter Sant

Fill'er up with weewee. We were treated years ago to news of a Filipino who claimed to develop a car engine that could run on water. While that technology has never seen the commercial light in this day of hybrids and alternative fuels, one Ohio scientist claims to have developed the means to run cars using urine. The hydrogen in urine is reportedly easier to extract compared to the hydrogen in water, thus requires less energy. Read all about it on Wired.com . If this technology becomes commercially available, our jeepney drivers wouldn't have to pee against their tires--they can relieve themselves while filling up the fuel tank. Abdul-less 'Idol?' It's almost certain that American Idol's next season won't have sweet Paula Abdul. This is according to her new manager David Sonenberg. So if she won't be on AI...what else could she be doing? She may not be the best judge on the show, but she balances out Simon Cowell quite effectively. Read more on Newswe

1) Given China's "reputation for duplication," time would come when Amazon's Kindle reader would find its long-lost Asian twin. And it has--welcome the WeFound. Check it out at DVice.com . 2) So the line between genius and insanity gets thinner by the day. A study carried out in Hungary establishes a link between artistry and schizophrenia, through a lone gene called neuregulin 1 that's involved in brain development. Read about it in NewScientist.com . 3) Speaking of brain-behavior connections, people predisposed to lying through their teeth can now blame their brain goo. Scientists have discovered that pathological liars have more white matter and less grey matter than...umm... normal people. Read about it in Seed Magazine . 4) In pop music, the Black Eyed Peas continued their supreme run at the top of the Billboard charts. Their single "I Gotta Feeling," which replaced "Boom Boom Pow" at the top spot weeks ago, is still at #1. Hannah Montana

Looks like the discrepancy in my bank account was the result of human error--mine. *sigh* I hate getting frazzled. The greater the stress, the more the memory gap grows. I believe this is called a senior moment.

CLICK HERE.

Do recall that my wallet was stolen on the afternoon of June 28th. I promptly called the customer service hotline of the bank to get my ATM account suspended until I could get a replacement. Confident that no one could touch what little money I had, I went to the bank branch the next day. After filling out the requisite forms, the new accounts person told me to pick up my new ATM card the following week. I got my card last Monday, and was told to wait for 24 hours before checking my account balance. So imagine my surprise when I checked my account yesterday--it was about a few thousand pesos less than what I had. How could that be, I thought? When I called last June 28, the bank's customer service rep confirmed that my account balance didn't change, so why was there a deduction? I called the customer service hotline again this morning to report the discrepancy. Even the customer service rep had the tone of surprise when she checked the records. Unfortunately, she said, the info

I was lying in bed when I was inspired to do this--I was given instructions to simply depict a comic book creator. You'll soon find out where this will come out. But, for now, I just wanted to share a behind-the-scene peek of how I do things. (Click on the image to enlarge.)

1) So couples can't kiss each other on the cheek when they're near a Mormon church? Security guards of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints asked gay couple Matt Aune and Derek Jones to leave Main Street Plaza in Salt Lake City soon after catching Aune giving Jones a kiss on the cheek. Church spokesperson Kim Farah said the couple was "asked to stop engaging in inappropriate behavior just as any other couple would have been." When the couple became argumentative, they were detained. Read the full story in the Salt Lake City Tribune . 2) New words, such as carbon footprint, shawarma, webisode and frenemy have been added to the 11th edition of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary. Strangely, the word missalette --that booklet we've been using for ages in church ceremonies-- gets its first appearance since the dictionary was first published at the turn of the 20th century. See 25 of the new words through Merriam-Webster Online. 3) New reports reveal

1) The Lost Symbol , Dan Brown's new novel featuring another Robert Langdon adventure now has a cover, released by the publisher last Tuesday. If we must judge a book by its cover, the new novel is set in the United States capital, “though it’s a Washington few will recognize,” said editor Jason Kaufman. Is this Dan Brown's version of National Treasure ? See the new cover through the New York Times website. 2) A Sacramento, California schoolteacher gave fifth grade students a birds-and-bees orientation when a DVD she distributed to them contained a sex video starring herself. The DVD was supposed to only contain footage of the school's events during the past year, and the sensitive material snuck in reportedly by mistake. Seems like lotsa people have lately been making mistakes with their sex videos. Read the rest on the Snafu-ed blog. 3) Matthew Vaughn's big-screen adaptation of Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr.'s ultra-violent comic book Kick-Ass is well under wa

I was at the Summit Studio earlier today for a photo shoot. Client wanted a catalog insert in one of Summit's women's magazines, and I was at the shoot to help out. I think I've mentioned before that directing models isn't my forte, but necessity is the mother of invention after all. Last week, I helped out directing Dingdong Dantes for another client, and the session turned out well. So far, I've been on "reality show" mode when it comes to my job. When an assignment comes in, I think of it as a reality show challenge, and I articulate the assignment--complete with commentary--in reality show style. For instance: "Today, one of the big bosses of the company called me up for a special assignment. I was supposed to design a new publication that would tie in to an existing website. This isn't the first time I've been assigned to design a new publication--the last one was a bit traumatic for me because I spent a lot of time on it, only to learn l

Apparently, there's a book club backed by the National Book Development Board (NBDB), the Philippine " government agency mandated to develop and support the Philippine book publishing industry ." For the month of July, the NDBD Book Club chose Budjette Tan and Ka-Jo Baldisimo 's supernatural detective series Trese as their featured piece. A forum with the creators will be held on July 25 (Saturday) at 2:00pm at the Philippine Heritage Library in Makati. Congratulations to Budjette and Ka-Jo! Woot woot! On that same day, a comic book creation seminar will take place in Cebu, to be led by the super-talented John Amor and Harvey Tolibao . The seminar will be held at the Teo-Fel Pension House (Oliva-Perez Building, Junquera Extension, near PCGS (Philippine Christian Gospel School). Come one, come all (kahit hindi kayo taga-Cebu)!